Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas!

To say the least, Christmas was very different this year for me. To start things off, I am in the opposite season than I am used to. Summer here and winter in Vermont, that just makes everything a little weird. On the afternoon of the 24th my family headed to the country house. Here, Christmas is celebrated in the night of the 24th. It was just my family, so the four of us, which is very different because I am used to being with all my aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. So it was quite. We had a nice family dinner and then it was time to wait for Santa or here, "Viejito Pascuero". And trust me we were all waiting. Juan Pablo, my 9 year old host brother, was destined to see Santa that night. He was pacing back and forth, waiting outside and staring at the sky for hours. He did not want to leave the house when we were supposed to go over to say hello to my host Mom's parents. He wouldn't budge. It was funny for me to watch all of this. At one point he ran outside and ran back in and he thought he had heard something and was certain that Santa was here. It was very entertaining for me! We finally did get him over at the grandparents house and that was around 11:30pm, and when we came back around 12:30am, Santa had stopped by and it was time to open gifts. And that was about it. Yesterday when we got back to our house in Chillan I finally had the opportunity to see my family and wish them a Merry Christmas. Unfortunately I was quickly reminded that the connection from South America to Vermont is pretty awful and skype wasn't going to be an option. Overall it was a whole new experience, and maybe not one of my favorites, but I quickly reminded myself that I have many more holidays in the future with my family and not to worry.

Buena Suerte Mayck!

Just the other day my host brother, Mayck, left for the United States for four months to work at a ski resort in Vermont. My home state. My parents picked him up in New York at the airport. He is spending a couple of days with my family in my house before he starts working. It's a very strange feeling for me to have, that one day I was saying goodbye to him in Chile and the next day he was meeting my parents for the first time in the United States. I am really happy that he is able to meet my family and some of my closet friends too. As much as I had wished that I could have sneaked into his suitcase and had gone with him to Vermont and seen my parents and friends I am truly happy here in Chile. It will be weird without him in the house. Mayck and I have truly become like siblings in a short four months. This weekend at our country house in Ninhue we had a going away celebration for Mayck. All of the family gathered together to wish him the best of luck. His grandfather started with the first toast wishing him luck and a safe trip and then Mayck's older sisters both said something and his best friends and then they asked me to say something. Obviously there is so much I wish I could say to him, but I just can't yet with where my Spanish is at right now, but I tried my best. When they asked me to say something I basically just lost it. All I had time to say before the waterfall of tears came was, "Gracias por todo y tu eres como mi otro hermano" (Thank you for everything and you are like my another brother [to me]). He came over and gave me a hug. It's a bittersweet moment, like I said before I am so excited for Mayck. It will be quite an experience for him, but I am a little jealous that he is seeing m parents as I have been a little homesick with the holiday season and him leaving. It's a weird thing for me to grasp, the fact that one day he was with me and the next he was with my parents. It's hard for me. Later that night Mayck pulled me aside and he said he wanted to personally say something to me. Of course the tears came again. This exchange has made me quite an emotional person! Mayck thanked me for helping him learn, about a new culture, how to live with another person from another country, and a little English. He also thanked me for being another sister to him. He said how he liked how we are able to have genuine conversations and work together. More was said, but I was to busy crying and only understood parts of it. It has just been a short four months in Chile, but Mayck has truly been like another older brother to me. He has helped me when I'm homesick and communicate within the family. He has made me feel at home. He's great, and it will be weird the next four months without him in the house. I wish him the best of luck in the United States. There will be plenty of times were I am going to miss him, but I know he will miss me too! Can't wait to see him again in March! I hope he has a great time, which I am sure he will! Buena Suerte Mayck.. Feo! (Good luck Mayck.. Ugly!)

South Trip Photos

A Sur de Chile Viaje (Trip to Southern Chile)

I just got back from my first big Rotary Trip, we went to the South of Chile. It was a long trip with lots of traveling by bus and by airplane as well. Every minute was worth it though. The trip was absolutely amazing and it was spent with awesome people. Seeing these incredible mountains, lakes, animals, and views in general reminded me of how grateful I am to be here and have the experience to travel to Patagonia. I was there for just a short week, but we fit a lot into the schedule!

It all started with a 9 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt where my district was all meeting.  It was so great to see everyone again. It is always a good time when we are all back together again because we have all become pretty close in a short amount of time! From there we got on another bus all together and toured the city and went to see some monuments. After that we headed to Punta Areans by plane. It is very far south! When we arrived in Punta Areans we did more city exploring and stayed in a Hostal that night. Early the next morning we headed to a cemetery, it was actually gorgeous with these huge trees and each tomb had a "garden" of some sort. It was different than a regular cemetery in the States. From there we got on the bus for quite a long ride to one of the most southernmost points you can go to in the world to see wild penguins! It was extremely windy with a mix of snow and rain and it was freezing, but it was worth it to see the penguins! After seeing the penguins we experienced a sheep shaving, very interesting to say the least. The man did it in less than 5 minutes. I was impressed! The next day we went on a boat. It took a little more than 3 hours to get to the Balmaceda Glacier.  But on our boat ride we saw another beautiful rainbow and more gorgeous mountains and more penguins as well! When you arrive to the glacier you walk up a little path and then it comes to a clearing and in the distance is this amazing glacier right in front of your eyes. I couldn't believe I was looking at it! It was amazing. I had never seen something even close to a glacier in my entire life. We then took the boat to another place to have lunch and then after lunch we took the boat back to the harbor where we started! It was a perfect day. We also went to Chiloe Island for part of  a day. It is the second largest island in Chile. It is very different from where I live in Chile. But that is the best part of these trips, you get to experience more places in the country that you are living in. We went to a museum and did touring of the city!

I have to say though my second to last day on the trip was the most exciting. We got up bright and early that day to go to Torres Del Paine, the national park in the South of Chile. It is breathtaking as you are driving through and seeing these mountains, and these gorgeous lakes that are the perfect blues. Our first big stop in the park was another waterfall with these gigantic white cap mountains as the background. I'd pretty much say picture perfect. And of course the waterfall had a rainbow. Rainbows were a big trend this trip! From there we went to another glacier. It was also absolutely gorgeous. And went you walk all the way to the end there are parts of the glacier that have come to the shore and there is an important tradition. It's a very big attraction, the whiskey tradition. You bring whiskey with you and use the millennial ices directly from the lagoon where the glacier is and have a nice drink! So of course we all did! I learned that day that I am not a fan of whiskey at all! All for the experience!

Of course I didn't write about all of the other amazing sites that I saw on my trip to the South of Chile, but the trip in general was pretty unbelievable and incredible. I hope to return someday to Torres Del Paine and hike there. It is supposed to be amazing. But I highly recommend Torres Del Paine if you ever have the opportunity to travel far south, it should be a stop on your trip! The world that we live in is beautiful and incredible and I am so grateful I could experience an amazing place on it!

Quick Bump in the Road

The build up to my first holiday away from home was difficult for me. It was hard for me to see my family all together via skype and knowing that I am missing out on Thanksgiving. Missing the holiday with my family was difficult and I am sure most holidays away from home will be for me, but I was quickly reminded of how grateful I am. How grateful I am for my family and for my friends and how grateful I truly am for this exchange. I had some moments in school this week where some tears were shown during class and I was reminded how much my classmates are really my other family. All asking if I was ok, hugging me and telling me that they will always be there for me and that they are my family here as well. It meant so much to me. The same goes for my host family. They are incredible and have made me feel so at home.

 Although I didn't have any turkey or pumpkin pie this year I still have so many things to be grateful for. This exchange is an adventure of a lifetime and I am living a dream. I am so lucky to be able to share my exchange with three of my closest friends that are exchange students right now as well. I am so grateful for this opportunity and for the people that are supporting me through my exchange and I can't thank them enough for everything they are doing and have done for me!

Just a quick bump in the road and just one day after the holiday I am back to being myself. Happy and completely content here in Chile. Still loving every minute of every day!

More Updates!

The past week or so have been quite busy! Staying busy is the best though. Last week on Thursday night grades 2 and 3, so in the American world, sophomores and juniors had a Latin American dance performance for gym class. And of course I took part! My class had been rehearsing and practicing for close to a month or so. The origin of our dance was Brazil. It was a lot of dancing, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  I still can’t dance like these South American kids can. These kids have moves, I do not!  Always a little embarrassing dancing alongside them, but still a lot of fun! We had to wear these extremely short, neon ruffled skirts. They would not be my first choice for anything, but I guess now I have another item I can bring to summer camp or wear for Halloween! It was just one night, and it was a fun night too! All worth it! 

This past weekend I went to Linares, which is about an hour and a half bus ride from Chillan.  I went to visit another exchange student, Korey! It was really nice to be able to meet her family and friends and see where she is living for the year. It is nice to get to know another city. We went into the center to hang out with some friends and that night we went to one of her classmate’s birthday’s where we got to meet more people. It’s fun to talk and to meet new people! It is always fun when the exchange students are together! Linares is a lot different, I think, compared to Chillan where I am living. Linares seemed a lot smaller with fewer people. Still a nice town though.  I am very jealous too. No one speaks English there so she is speaking Spanish 24/7. I love having other exchange students and other students that I am able to communicate with, but it is really hard in school to not go a day without speaking English. Although I may not be speaking as much Spanish as she is I can still see how much I am improving, I just wish it was a faster process sometimes! 

Next weekend I am headed on my first big Rotary trip! I am going to the south of Chile, Patagonia! I am so excited to see the mountains and just be there. From my understanding it is with most of the Rotary students that are currently in Chile right now. I am looking forward to meeting so many new people and of course more pins for the blazer! Always a bonus! It should be really fun; I hope this week goes by fast! I am so excited for the trip! If you have a chance, Google “Torres del Paine”, that is where I am headed for a week! Absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous!

The weather is starting to feel like summer. School is coming to an end as well, only a little over a month or so! I am extremely excited for the hot weather. It is still weird to me that Christmas this year I will be wearing shorts and sweating instead of wearing sweaters and watching the snow fall! Days continue to fly by, and I continue to enjoy myself every single day here.

3 Month Mark

I have hit the 3 month in Chile. It literally feels just like yesterday that I was crying my eyes out saying goodbye to my parents for the year as I got in line for security at the airport. Tears of sadness and excitement. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew I was about to have the experience of a lifetime. Time is going by extremely fast, but I am loving every single minute. I am so happy with where I am. There have been many ups and downs in my exchange. Days where I wish I could just be back in Vermont. Days where I wish I already spoke fluent Spanish. Days where I could be joking around with friends from home. Although there have been downs, there have been so many ups. All I need to do is go look around and just say to myself, "I am 16 years old studying abroad in a foreign country." And I feel pretty good about myself and where I am at. The happiest I've ever been.

In the last 3 months I really have had memories that will last forever. I have taken thousands of pictures of basically every moment. I have made friends that I already know I will never be able to say goodbye too. Friends for a lifetime, I feel like I have known them forever. I don't know what I would do without them. My family continues to support me as I try my best to learn their language and communicate with them. They are extremely patient with me and I feel at home. They continue to put a smile on my face everyday and that is what is most important to me.

My Spanish is coming along. I wish it where better, but I know it takes some time. It's difficult and the language barrier is tough.  It is hard to not be able to say what is on your mind or to express your emotions the way you wish you could. I just tell myself that one day I will be able to say everything I want and that that day is getting closer and closer. I look forward to dreaming in Spanish!

Most importantly, thank you to my parents at home. Not a day goes by that I don't think about them both and miss them. I want to thank them for being able to give me this opportunity of a lifetime. All of their support keeps me going. I hope I am making them proud! I can't wait until they visit and I can show them my life for the past year. That day when they are in Chile will be here before I know it. I also want to thank them for their very generous care packages. I love them all. I love you Mom and Dad, and thank you so much. It means the world to me to be able to be studying abroad. A dream come true thanks to the both of you. I love you both!

Recent Events!

October was quite a busy month! I can't believe that it has already flown by.  Time is continuing to go by extremely fast.  I have almost spent 3 months living in Chile, which I can't believe at all! I am loving every minute of it all though. It has truly been an adventure so far!

The month started with my weekend with Rotary.  It was a perfect weekend seeing all of the other exchange students again. It was also perfect because most of us made plans to visit each other within the month and plans to get together and visit the other towns where people are living for the year. A week or two after my Rotary weekend I met up with three other exchange students and we had a "mini reunion" together here in Chillan at another exchange students house. It was really fun. We cooked Danish lasagna together, it was pretty delicious too. Later that night we made pancakes, but with beer. This is how the two exchange students from Denmark make pancakes. You don't really taste the beer that much, but it gives them a really good flavor. Something new! It was a great weekend, filled with story telling, laughs and overall just a good time. It's really nice to be able to get together with the other exchange students because they are going through the exact same things as you are, the ups and downs and the completely understand how you feel. They are literally my other family here, so I am grateful for such a great group of us!

This month our school had "Teachers Day" or something similar, but we ended up getting an afternoon off from school one day. Most of my class went to another classmates house where we made homemade pizzas because the classmate has a pizza oven in his backyard. It was fun and delicious. I really love being with my classmates. They are all so welcoming and so funny. Like the other exchange students, my classmates are my other family as well. I feel very close and comfortable with all of them so I am very grateful for them as well. It was a great afternoon!

Last week my older host brother took me to Concepcion to visit his mom and his family. It is very different compared to Chillan where I live. We met up with one of my brothers friends that I had met at our country house. Then we went to the naval base where we went onto a boat. I am assuming that it was a replica, I have no idea though! But the little bit of history that I understood was that it was used during a fight/war between Chile and Peru. And Chile won! That's about all I know! But it was cool nevertheless. After that we went back to my brothers house where I saw his sisters, that I had met before as well. It was great to see them! Then the highlight of my day was the mall we went to in Concepcion. It had a Gap, which is a classic store, and one of my favorites. The mall in Chillan is very, very tiny with few stores. So I was very excited to see a Gap. It felt great to do some shopping! I will be going back again sometime soon! But it was a great day spent and it was really nice to do something with my brother because he is leaving soon for the United States!

Last, but not least the "Gala". Basically it is the junior/senior prom in the United States. It was held in the center of town in the plaza! It was so fun, getting all dressed up and wearing fancy dresses etc! We had "cocktails" before, then we had a sit down dinner and then the best part, dancing! It is pretty embarrassing to dance with these Chileans, because they are all basically born to dance and I have no rhythm and no dancing skills whatsoever. My friends get a kick out of my dancing, but it is still lots of fun! That lasted until 3am, so fun though.

Overall a great month, that went by extremely fast! Below are some pictures from the month; Pizza, Rotary reunion, my day in Concepcion with my brother, and the Gala!

Weekend with Rotary

This weekend my district in Chile had a second orientation. We all met up in Chillan, Chile at the bus station where we all took a little Rotary van to Valle Las Trancas, which was about a 45 minute drive.  Of course it was pouring rain on Saturday, basically the first rain that I have had since I arrived in Chile about 2 months ago. The ride was full of laughter and jokes and discussion about our families and new friends and how school was going for each of as well. Most of us are in the same boat when it comes to school, not understanding much, but still having a great time! We have all decided that there will be many more gatherings throughout the year and more fiestas with each other! Plans have been made for weekend visits and trips as well! I am looking forward to it all!

When we arrived at our place that we were staying for the weekend we had a great lunch and did some more catching up.  After that we were back in the van headed to "Gruta Los Pangues", where we hiked up a little path and saw more waterfalls, and it was also snowing! It was freezing to say the least! It was a gorgeous waterfall though. After that we went to a mountain resort where some of the exchange students had been skiing with their families. I still haven't been skiing yet, but I know I will/have to before I leave Chile! It was snowing like crazy now, but it was so exciting at the same time. Snowballs were being thrown and many pictures were being taken! It was great! After we had a long meeting, going over rules, questions etc. Then we took a test! Not just one, but four! All written, answering questions about Chile, school, our families etc. I think I passed! Hopefully! To end the night we had a talent show! I don't really have a talent, so friend Mikke, who is from Denmark, and I danced. If you have ever seen the movie "Hitch" when Albert is showing Hitch he dance move to the song "Yeah" by Usher, that is what we attempted to do! Lots of laughs! It was really funny!

 SNOW! Other Rotary students and I.

The waterfalls! 

Map of the mountain at the ski resort that we visited!
















Today, Sunday, we all met for breakfast and after went for a walk around the town that we were staying in. We then cooked some traditional Chilean food and had lunch then headed back to Chillan! Overall a great weekend filled with lots of laughs. We even made the Chilean newspaper. There was a picture of all of us the day we left. Something I will keep forever!

Chile's Independence Day Festivities

Although it has been a little bit of time since some of these festivities occurred they are worth writing a blog post about! Technically Chile's Independence Day is on the 18th, but it's more than just one day of celebrations, it's more like a week worth! We got the week of from school, which was very nice if I say so myself! From traditional games at school and traditional outfits to some very good homemade empanadas and fresh meat on the grill! 

For me the celebrations began a couple of days before the week off in school.  Hallways and classrooms were covered in Chilean flags, streamers, "Viva Chile", "Feliz 18", and other decorations.  It looked awesome!  On the Friday before our week off it was a day filled with activities. The "seniors", the oldest kids in the school here set up "Ramadas" which are like little shelter type of structures.  There were traditional foods being served and being cooked.  There were tug-of-war, which I took part in! There was also 3-legged races and sack races and other games going on.  The best part was watching students in the traditional outfits dance the official Chilean dance, the "cucea".  I myself learned the very very basic steps to the dance later in the week! People here are very good dancers and I am really not!

My family headed to our country house in Ninhue for the week!  Many friends and family joined us there for the week!  On the 18th my family dressed in the traditional clothing and went to a church ceremony, not sure what was said, but it was good to experience it!  The rest of the gorgeous, sunny afternoon was spent playing tennis and ping pong and making food!  I learned how to make empanadas, although I prefer only empandas de queso (cheese) it was still fun to do! We then enjoyed delicious grilled meat and vegetables-delicious!  Later that night went down the road where Ramadas had been set up in Ninhue.  Parts of it were just lots of people dancing and enjoying themselves!  It was fun to watch and also take part in, but once again..I can't dance, at all! Another part was more traditional games that you could pay to play.  We all played a couple of the games, and once again it was fun! And to end the night everyone danced the cucea.  Overall it was a great day and it was exciting to take part in my first holiday here in Chile!

Preparing homemade emapandas with my host Mom!

Host family in traditional clothing on the 18th!

Extended family on the 18th! 

 Picture perfect day in Ninhue, Chile! 

 Enjoying the Chilean cuisine!

One Month Mark

It feels like it was just yesterday when I was writing a post about how I had been in Chile for a week. Time is really flying by! I really can't believe that I have been here for a whole month! It still doesn't feel real to me that I will be here for another 10 months or so, but I am so grateful for this experience and all of the amazing people I have met along the way so far. I can't wait to see what the next 10 months will bring, I am sure lots of adventures! I want to thank my parents for being able to give me this opportunity and also my host family for letting me become a part of their family!  My family is truly amazing, they are so funny and caring and loving.  I really feel like a part of their family.   

I continue to enjoy myself here.  Everyday is a new adventure.  Everything continues to be good as well; school, family and friends. I have really begun to open up and I am not as shy anymore.  I am much more confident in speaking and just trying. I am much more comfortable in school with my classmates and as well as at home with my family.

School is going great as well.  I still don't understand a lot of what my teachers are talking about in class, but I am trying my best!  It is difficult to have that feeling of not understanding all of the time.  It is frustrating, but I know in time I will be able to communicate a lot better than I can now, it just takes time!  The other day in Physical Education, I learned how to dance the Samba.  It was interesting to say the least!  From my understanding, we are going to learn a choreographed dance and then have to preform it.  That will be quite the experience! It is really fun so I now look forward to gym class.  My classmates are great though, they think I am so funny which is funny to me.  We joke around a lot and it feels like I am with friends from home, they have really made me feel comfortable within the classroom. Overall the social aspect of school is great!

In the past month, I have learned so much about myself, I have tried foods I have never even heard of, and liked most of them too! I have gotten to know a new lifestyle, I have made amazing friends that I know will last a lifetime. And, I have craved Al's French Fries almost every day...plus my Mom's baking. I have never craved Maple Syrup so much in my life either, it's hard being a Vermonter without syrup for a month!

"Ya Sí"

An ongoing joke now with my family and friends from school is "Ya Sí".  When someone speaks to me in Spanish, and if I understand I always say "ya".  Then I have to answer in Spanish so I say "sí". So I just end up saying "Ya Sí" literally all the time. It's really funny now because it has caught on and the kids in my class and my family always say "ya si" to me now. Some of the kids in my class joke around with it and make fun of it and then I see them later on Facebook commenting "ya sí".  It may not be funny to people reading this because it's hard to explain the reactions from people when I say it or they say it to me, but it just shows to me that my family and friends are making an effort to keep me laughing and having a good time. I know at the end of the year, when I actually can fluently speak Spanish, this will be something that we will look back on and joke about.  I have great classmates and they are always asking me questions and keep me laughing even when I am completely lost in the language!  I am so happy that I am here in Chile!

Past Weekend

My host family has another house in Ninhue, which is about a 30 or so minute drive from Chillan.  It is a very "rustic" spot, mostly of farmland and not as many houses.  My family has a much larger house there compared to the one in Chillan.  At the country house we have a swimming pool, tennis court, ping pong table, and three dogs! I've never been a dog person, but I am becoming to like them very much.  My host Mom's parents live across from our house and own a lot of farmland.  Last weekend my host Dad showed me around the land.  The have lots of animals, including horses, chickens, sheep, rabbits, cows, etc. It's a great spot, and the views of the mountains from there are so pretty.  It's really nice to go there because there's no WiFi, so it's a great opportunity for me to speak more Spanish and just hang out with my family without distractions from friends back home and those kinds of things.  Quality family bonding time!

The past weekend I got to see a little bit more of Chile.  My family took me to see the beach!  It was about 45 minute drive from Ninhue to the first part of the beach that we stopped at.  I was so excited to see the ocean.  It's gorgeous there, I can't wait until the summer to go swimming!  They have this seaweed that basically looks like a black garden hose that you can eat.  I just couldn't get myself to try it this trip, but maybe next time!  There were a couple of surfers and when they came out of the water they would just walk up to the pile of seaweed a break themselves off a piece of it and eat it!  It was an interesting thing to see! The last place we visited on the beach was basically like a mini mountain that had parts were you could walk through to the other side and then at high tide it would be filled with water.  It is also a place were people come to pray, there were various religious statues inside of it.  It was really cool though.  It was also great to see more of Chile, I hope to do more traveling in the future while I am here!

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First Days of School!

I had my first three days of school this week at Colegio Concepcion de Chillán.  Besides the fact that I have no idea what the teachers are saying half the time, school is going okay.  It's exhausting though having to get back into the routine of getting up early and its a long day.  Right now it is really frustrating to no understand what's going on and what everyone is saying, but I know that will change soon and I will be able to follow along.  Luckily enough I recognize some of the material being taught in some subjects which is good because then I have an idea of what they might be talking about! 

Here in Chile the school schedule is a lot different than what I am used to in Vermont, but I like it a lot here! I have school from 8am-1pm, then go home for lunch and go back to school from 3pm-6pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Those days are really long, I don't usually end up getting home until 6:45pm and by that point I am absolutely exhausted.  On Thursday and Friday I only have school from 8am-1pm, not bad! I prefer those days a lot more!  I take the bus to school too, but it's no yellow school bus here.  The bus is basically an old premier bus, it's so funny.  Most of the streets are pretty small and consist of very tight turns so it's always an interesting ride to say the least. 

In school here you stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers switch classrooms.  I have History, Math, Biology, "Lenguaje" (which is Spanish class), English, Philosophy, PE, Chemistry, Physics, and Elective.  I don't have all these classes everyday which is good, because I am totally and completely lost in Physics, and Philosophy and Chemistry.  I don't even know if I could take those in English..so they are a struggle right now! I haven't had English class yet because it is earlier in the week, but I look forward to it!  Each student chooses an Elective class, there are four to choose from, and in my case it's basically another 2 hours of Biology and then I also have Geometry on Friday.  Friday is only your elective class.  I understand some of the History and recognize some of the Math and Biology since I have taken those classes before.

My classmates are great, they are so welcoming and are always asking me questions and practicing their English with me!  It's funny to hear them speak English, but then again I must sound pretty funny too trying to speak Spanish with them!  My first day they threw me a surprise welcome party!  They made me a poster that said, "Welcome Emma" with a Vermont picture and a Chilean picture with an airplane connecting them.  We had some food and they played American music for me!  It was really fun, and it was so nice of them!  They speak slow and repeat everything for me which is great!  I have a great class and I can't wait to get to know them all better as the semester progresses. 

First Week!

It's hard to believe, but a little over one week ago I stepped on a plane and traveled 5,600 miles away from home for the year to study abroad as an exchange student. It has been quite a transformation from living in Vermont to switching continents and living in Chile!  Even though it has only been one week of a 11 month exchange, I know that this is truly the best decision I have ever made. I am so happy that I am here, and I couldn't ask for a more welcoming family, they are amazing.  I am so grateful.

The first day and a half I questioned myself what I was doing and thought I was crazy at first to take this on and step completely out of my comfort zone.  That thought is completely gone now, and I feel very comfortable with my host family and feel a part of their family.  They tell me that my Spanish is improving and that is a great thing to hear! I start school tomorrow, I am very nervous, but looking forward to it too! I look forward to going to school because I can begin to start my "life" here by making friends and having a routine.  From going to school and speaking more and more I know my Spanish will begin to pick up and I am so excited for that! I real conversation instead of si or no all the time!  Yesterday we drove to Santiago to drop my host sister, Valentina, at the airport.  She is traveling abroad as well to the United States! So I wish her the best of luck and I know she will do great!

It is only the beginning and I know I have many more experiences to come my way while I am here and I look forward to each and every one of them.  I know that this year will fly by and be over before I know it, so I don't want to waste a single minute!  Like one of my cousins said to me the day before I left, " Open your mind and your heart and let it all happen!  And be aggressive- try everything."  My goal is to really follow those words of wisdom and really make this the time of my life! 

Updates!

I have only officially spent 2 days in Chile with my host family, but it already feels like I've been here for longer!  I am still adjusting to all my new surroundings, which is still difficult because there really isn't that much here that reminds me of my home.  I also think that is a good thing though.  I have been keeping busy too which is good.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to meet one of my host families old neighbors that had lived down the street.  She is now 18, but she had spent the last 8 years living in New York.  Aka, she spoke ENGLISH! She helped me translate to the family and explain things to me about school and life here in Chile.  It was really nice to have met her and she said if I ever need anything she will help me out!  It's so nice to have someone that can help me, especially in the beginning when it's very hard to communicate with the family.  I have been saying si (yes) quite a bit!  My host sister Valentina, and my translator, Pia, took me to my new school to show me my classroom and the school in general.  The school is so nice, much bigger and nicer than my school in Vermont.  I probably won't want to go back! In Chile, from what I understand, you stay in the same classroom with the same people and the teachers change classrooms.  That was a sigh of relief, now I won't get lost as much!  I met many of Valentina's friends and they all seem very nice and are excited to have an exchange student, they were all practicing their English with me!  It was pretty funny, but I must sound pretty funny to them too! I think once I start school my Spanish will become much better and I won't miss home as much either because I will be busy with school and making friends and adjusting to that too!  I start next week after Valentina leaves for the United States!  After I saw the school we went into the town, where the mall is and various shops, it's a busy place!  We bought my shoes for school, basic black flat shoes..different! Last night at dinner I also gave my family my gifts for them from Vermont, they loved everything and now I feel much closer to them and I feel more a part of the family.  My host brother, Michael, recognized the Burton t-shirt that I gave him and that was pretty cool.  And that sums up that day!

Today, so far Valentina took me into town to get my uniform for school.  I have never had a uniform before, it's not too bad I guess!  It will be nice to have one here because it is one less thing to worry about!  Then we meet up with my host mom, Nancy, and we were in town and we went to the market where there are many little shops outside where you can buy clothing and basically anything, they said it's like a tourist spot!  I want to go back though to shop!  Valentina is having a party tonight as a going away for her and a welcoming for me.  They said it starts at 10pm and won't end until like 5am tomorrow!  It's going to be lot of fun, I just hope I don't fall asleep! I am still very tired from everything! 

This is what I have been up to so far.  I am really excited, but also very nervous to start school!  I am sure it will be great though!  My host siblings have already told me my Spanish sounds better, which is great to hear!  If anything I wish it were  little warmer, it's so cold and houses here, unless the family is very well off, don't have central heating they just have one small stove in the living room/dinning room area.  I am getting used to it though!  That's it for now, continue reading!

ADIOS!

First Couple of Days!

I made it safe and sound!  Chile is amazing already and my host family seems so nice from the little that I can understand them!  It's very difficult already, they speak so fast and slur some of their words together so it is hard to understand, but then again I have been here for only like 24 hours so I am sure my Spanish will improve fast! It took me about 15 hours of actual flying to get here, the flights were very long and I am still very exhausted.  I need sleep and lots of it!  I was lucky enough to not have to fly alone. 

The exchange students that are in the same district as me, about 12 of us were all picked up at the Conception Airport. We have students from the USA, Germany, Denmark and Canada in our district.  From the airport we got on a bus and went to our hotel, Hotel Salto Del Laja, in Los Angeles.  The hotel itself was up in the mountain overlooking a gorgeous waterfall.  It was breathtaking!  We stopped at the bottom of the mountain/hill thing for our first Chilean meal! We basically had a 5 course meal, it was crazy and pretty delicious! We then went back to the hotel part where they have a "meeting" building.  The rotary members with us went over the rules and everything, not to mention Chile is coming out of winter, but it's still freezing and there was little to no heat in the building so it was freezing!  We then went back down to the restaurant and had dinner, around 8pm!  All of us were exhausted at this point from all of the traveling!  Then after dinner they finally let us go to bed!  This morning we met together to have breakfast and then more orientation things and more rules that we need to follow, etc.  At noon we were being picked up by our host family!

Meeting my host family is definitely the highlight of my day!  They are all so welcoming and so nice, I am very lucky!  We went to this like carnival type of place for lunch.  It was very interesting and it's hard to compare it to anything in the states!  I had chicken (pollo in spanish) because that was the only word that I recognized on the menu!  And then we had ice cream, it was very good but it made me colder!  Its about 50 degrees here, but coming from the summer in Vermont makes it feel much colder than I think it really is! Then the most exciting part, my new home for the year!  I live in like I neighborhood type of set up, but it is VERY different.  I like it though.  The house is nice, but very small!  My family also has a house in the country and they said it is much bigger than this house in the city.  I am so excited to just finally be here!  I moved in all of my stuff into my new lime green room!  But other than sleeping for a bit that is a short version of what I have done so far in Chile!

I still can't believe I am here, it really hasn't hit me yet.  It's hard to not understand anything, but I know that it will get better.  I have a very patient family that I know is willing to help me learn!  I will try to post when I can, but I don't want to be on the computer all the time!  I hope to post pictures next post as well, I can't wait to take some!  Adios por ahora! (Bye for now!)  

Last Day in VT

It finally came.  My last day in Vermont.  I never would have thought 6 + months ago that this day would actually come.  It's become pretty real to me now.  I spent the day deciding what clothes to bring, and then packing and unpacking all my stuff!  I successfully got all of my stuff into 1 large suitcase and 1 smaller suitcase!  That was pretty difficult! I probably over packed, but it's hard to bring what you feel like nothing for a year! I am looking forward to shopping in Chile though!  Something exciting happened today though, my family has an exchange student for a semester while I am gone this year and we met her in the airport today!  She is from Finland and speaks great English!  I wish her the best of luck this year while she is here in the United States.  It was great to meet her though and I know that we will stay in touch during the year! As expected, today was extremely hard for me.  Lots of tears, both happy and sad.  I spent most of the day with my family and some close friends which was nice.  It was as relaxing as it could be and that was all that I wanted.  It's hard to say goodbye to such an amazing place with all my friends and family, but I am ready to start my adventure in Chillan, Chile! Wish me luck!

Insight From My Best Friend

I am lucky enough to have a couple of friends studying abroad all around the world at the same time as me, but I am even luckier to have my best friend studying abroad.  My best friend, of literally my whole life, is studying in Costa Rica for 6 months.  She has been there for about 2 weeks or so by now and we stay in touch by emailing a lot.  Our goal is to reply on the same email the whole time, until my exchange is done so when we are both home and reunited we will read through and it will be like a diary we wrote together.  In an email between us we share anything that comes to mind so it will be fun to look back on every little thing that popped into our head while we wrote an email to one another. Obviously a classic thing teenage girls would do.  But anyway, she tells me that she is having a great time and loves being in Costa Rica and that she loves her host family and that they are trying to teach her everything they can. Which is amazing, I am so happy for her! Hearing that makes me feel so much better about my exchange.  She also tells me that she feels lost at times and that it is difficult and she becomes homesick sometimes.  It's hard to read that, first because she is my best friend and you never want to see someone you care about so much have a hard time or feel lost and second because I am just thinking, well that will be me in a week or so.  But then again, this is all expected which makes me feel better and I hope it makes her feel better too.  Words cannot explain in anyway how grateful and lucky I am to be able to share an experience like studying abroad with three close friends and one being my best friend.  Just to be able to share adventures and experiences that we had and to talk about our host families together is really cool.  Also to be able to talk about things like being homesick or feeling out of place in the first couple of months.  To have a close friend that is going through the same exact things makes it so much easier to talk to them then a friend at home who really couldn't relate at all.  I think it will make my exchange that much better and easier to not have to go through it all alone.  Although we are all in different places around the world I feel like it will still make a difference. 

Other than that I have 2 more full days at home which means lots of packing and emotional filled days! I can't wait to start posting about events that happen in CHILE! Thanks for reading, and keep reading and following my blog!  It will get much more interesting once I am actually in the country! I can't wait!

One Week

I have finally hit the one week mark after months of waiting! It is actually crazy to know that I am leaving Vermont for a year in a week.  I still can't completely wrap my mind around that.  Leaving this gorgeous state and familiar surroundings is a strange thing to think about right now!  I received my travel itinerary about a week ago and that is when it became more real to me because I had an actual set date.  I am really nervous about flying without anyone, it will be my first time.  Then again it's all part of the adventure I guess! I am sure everything will work out just fine. 

It's been a sad couple of days, and I know more sad days will come.  Saying goodbye is getting really hard.  It's hard especially with friends because I am so used to seeing everyone in the hallways at school and hanging outside of school on the weekends.  It will be weird not being able to just hang out.   But with the use of email, facebook and skype I know I will stay in touch with my closest friends and still be apart of their lives even if we are living on separate continents!

This past week has been going by so slow.  I am getting antsy! It's so difficult to wait for something like this to start!  I am also becoming very emotional and sad, which I know is obviously a common thing that would happen.  I never thought it would be crying every day, but it's hard not to sometimes.  Which basically means I have given up on mascara..it just doesn't look good streaking down your face! Haha.  I got an email from my aunt the other day and she wrote, "I wish you a most amazing time in Chile and look forward to hearing all about your experiences. Keep your eyes wide open and take it all in. You'll learn more than you ever thought you would." and she is right and I can't wait. Getting something like that reminds me for the reasons that I am so excited to be going to Chile and some of the tears go away and a smile appears on my face.  I want this week to go by faster so the tears can stop and this absolutely amazing journey of a life time can start!

Anxious

Chile is right around the corner. It's unbelievable how fast it came! I still have roughly 2 weeks left, but I know those days will go by so fast.  I am becoming more and more anxious about leaving.  I still have so much to do, including packing which I know will take me forever!  I am really sad to be going, but I am looking forward to this experience so much and I know it will be amazing.  It's hard to start to say goodbye to friends, but then I remember that I won't be in Chile forever and it will go by faster than I think!  I think I am most anxious about getting on a plane and knowing that this is real and it is really happening.  As much as I fear that day, I look forward to it so much as well!  With every sad thing about leaving I think of something to look forward to in Chile and it balances everything out.  I am becoming more and more nervous, but to me it still doesn't feel that real yet that I am actually leaving the United States and traveling to South America for roughly 11 months.  I think it will finally hit me when I get off my plane in Chile and I will be surrounded with thousands of people speaking Spanish and then meeting my host family.  I am so excited to meet them in person!

Chilean Consulate Visit

My exchange to Chillan, Chile is approaching much faster than I thought!  It was 6 months ago when I was accepted into the Rotary Exchange Program and at that time it felt so far away.  Now I will be leaving for Chile in about 20 days or so.  It is finally becoming so real.  I drove to Boston today to receive my visa for traveling. It was quite an interesting visit to the consulate.  It was basically in a basement in Boston. Many old "artifacts" were hung on the walls and a Chilean flag hung outside. These quite humorous old men were the ones working there.  I didn't understand all of their jokes, but they were quite the hoot! A very quick process, but it takes a lot of work to get everything together to be able to go to the consulate.  I wouldn't be able to go on the exchange if it weren't from the help of my parents.  Especially to my Mom, she has been on the phone almost every day and has scheduled every appointment from my FBI background check, blood test, renewing of my passport etc. I am very thankful for my parents and for the this opportunity that they are providing me.  Overall the consulate visit was a very odd experience, but I will never forget it and it's one step closer.  From there I am able to then book my flight to Chile and it will be official!  

Get To Know Me

Hi! I am Emma Briody.  I live in South Burlington, Vermont and attend South Burlington High School.  I am taking my junior year to become an exchange student and study abroad in Chile!  Studying abroad has been a dream of mine for quite sometime.  I am greatly influenced by my older cousins who have also had the experience of studying abroad at some point in their high school or college career.  That's where my idea of studying abroad sparked from.  I've always wanted to travel the world, one of my goals is to travel to every continent.  I consider this exchange the beginning of my travels.  Studying abroad isn't very common in my high school so most of my friends are surprised I would want to leave for a year and study abroad.  I ask myself the same thing sometimes too.  I am looking forward to trying something completely new and to step out of my comfort zone.  This experience will make me a stronger and more independent person and I think that this will help me in my future.  Another reason I wanted to study abroad was for the opportunity to learn a language and become fluent in my time there, and to experience another culture and new customs.   As I said before, studying abroad isn't very common in my school, but I am actually lucky enough to be sharing an experience like this with three very close friends who are studying abroad.  I can't wait to hear all about their exchange and to have three close friends that are going through the same struggles will be nice to talk to because they will understand, rather than a friend at home.  As excited as I am to start this adventure and leave for Chile I am sad to have to begin to say goodbye to family and friends.  As hard as I know it will be to leave home for a year, my eagerness to leave and begin my life in Chile triumps the sadness of leaving.  I am grateful for the opporunity to study abroad and all the support from my family and friends and I can't wait to begin to post stories, photos and other posts about school, my host family and adventures while I am in Chile!  Follow my journey as I travel 5,600 miles to Chillan, Chile!